PIC is ideal for SWaP constrained applications

Concurrent Technologies launches a new 3U VPX Plug-in Card (PIC) designed in alignment with the SOSA Technical Standard. This new I/O intensive processor is aimed at multiple Situational Awareness and Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) applications that necessitate a combination of general-purpose processing augmented with image processing and AI acceleration.

TR K9x/6sd-RCx is based on an 11th Gen Intel Core Processor, which has up to four CPU cores mated with 16Gbytes of soldered DDR4 DRAM with in-band Error Correction Code for high-performance general-purpose compute tasks. The Intel Iris Xe Graphics integrated into the device adds up to 96 Execution Units for AI and acceleration when employed by an OpenCL, oneAPI or OpenVINO application. Extra processing or I/O can be incorporated within a single slot through the onboard XMC site, which means that the product can be readily reconfigured for specific application requirements. Connectivity to the XMC site and the backplane data and expansion plane connections is through a PCIe switch with non-Transparent port and DMA capability, providing for SWaP optimised multi-processor solutions with no need for a separate PCIe switch. Also, it supports several rear connections for easy development and deployment, including Ethernet, DisplayPort and USB. One of the advantages of SOSA alignment is that the rear I/O connections are defined on the backplane, enabling customers to simply realise technology transitions and increase product life cycles.

Nigel Forrester, director of Product Strategy for Concurrent Technologies, commented: “This new board is a key addition to our portfolio of Intel processor-based solutions; it enables more deterministic networking, with features like Precision Time Protocol, and adds capabilities to significantly improve AI inferencing and image processing performance. We are determined to provide our customers with a variety of options to fulfil their needs, and this new Plug-in Card is the perfect next step for our embedded solutions.”